Collapsible last



Nov. 1, 1955 K. HEGGS COLLAPSIBLE LAST 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 30, 1954 INVENTOR. KENNETH HEGGS 1 9M wwam.

ATTORNEYS Nov. 1, 1955 K. HEGGS COLLAPSIBLE LAST 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 30, 1954 INVENTOR.

KENNETH HEGGS Mam ATTORNEYS United States Patent COLLAPSIBLE LAST Kenneth Heggs, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Alexander W. McNeil], Saugus, Mass.

Application June 30, 1954, Serial No. 440,315

Claims. (Cl. 12-136) This invention comprises a new and improved collapsible last constructed and arranged so that its parts stay in open or collapsed condition when spindled and also when not in use. It has the advantage that it will not of itself assume elongated position between the removal of one lasted upper and the application of another upper to the last in the routine course of shoemaking.

The last of my invention has a particularly advantageous field of use in the manufacture of shoes by the socalled California process in which the last is spindled in collapsed position with the forepart directed away from the operator, an upper applied to the last and pulled forcibly over its forepart, and then the last is elongated within the upper by swinging its forepart downwardly. The lasted shoe is removed from the spindle and various shoemaking operations are then carried out, the outsole is attached, and finally the complete shoe is again spindled, the last collapsed and the shoe removed. The collapsed last is thus left in condition to receive a new upper and one object of the present invention is to provide a last constructed to retain it in that condition.

Many lasts as heretofore constructed tend to straighten of themselves when left on a spindle or in being handled between consecutive periods of use. If this occurs the operator has to perform the extra operations of unlatching and collapsing the last. The last of the present invention is constructed and arranged definitely to obviate this extra step on the part of the operator. To that end its hinge connecting mechanism includes in its structure a spring operated latch holding the parts of the last in collapsed condition and restraining them against relative movement to elongated position.

A further feature of the invention consists in latching mechanism of such construction that while the last will be normally retained in collapsed position and remain in that position when the toe part is subjected to pressure, it is capable of being conveniently and quickly straightened by pressure applied in the right direction against the shank of the forepart of the last. To operate in this manner the latch must include a shallow recess that will permit the latch to cam itself out of engagement in response to pressure on the forepart.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation, partly in section, of the last in an intermediate collapsed position,

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the main portions of the last in extended position, and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the last in its extreme collapsed position.

The last herein shown comprises a forepart and an interfitting heel part 11. The mating faces of these parts are complementary to each other and at the cone of the last an opening is provided into which the operating end of the latch link projects so that it maybe reached for 'ice collapsing the last. The heel part 11 is provided with a slot or mortise 12 and in the mating face of the forepart is formed a registering slot 13 in which the metal connecting hinge mechanism is housed. The mating faces are transversely shouldered at an intermediate point to form interlocking engagement when the last is extended and the slot 12 is so shaped as to leave a stout shoulder adjacent to the tread surface of the heel part.

The connecting mechanism comprises an elongated tension link 14 which as herein shown may be made up of two identical spaced members longitudinally curved and slotted at their forward end. They are provided with an anchor pin 16 in the forepart and an anchor pin 17 in the heel part of the last. The tension link is pivoted upon its rear end to swing about the anchor pin 17 while the anchor pin 16 is received in the slot of the link so that the pin 16 may move rearwardly in the slot with lost motion when the last is being collapsed.

In its upper side adjacent to the anchor pin 17 the link is shaped to provide a sharp latch angle or abutment 15. The contour of the tension link end of this latch abutment is duplicated in an intermediate plate 21 which is located between the identical members of the tension link and spot welded in place thus producing a strong fiat unit having a pronounced latch angle of three ply thickness. For example, the spaced members of the link may be 0.058" in thickness while the intermediate plate 21 may be 0.093" in thickness. The tension link unit fills the slots 12 and 13 in the last parts with a freely sliding fit and may be limited in its swinging movement by the shoulder of the heel part when the last is collapsed to the limit of its movement as shown in Fig. 3.

A bowed latch or latch link 19 is pivotally mounted upon the forepart anchor pin 16 and arranged to swing in the slot 13 of the forepart and between the two members of the tension link. Its outer end is rounded and hook-shaped to fit either the latching abutment 15 of the tension link or a latching pin 18 set in the upper portion of the heel part. Its end is extended and provided with a rounded edge surface so that it may be readily reached by the operator to be released in collapsing the last and and also so that it will cam itself forwardly and snap over the latch pin 18 when the last is straightened. The link 19 is bowed so that it may flex and lengthen slightly to relieve the last of improper excess pressure if the last should be mistreated in use. A curved leaf spring 20 is held in the slot 13 against the back of the latch link 19 and this tends always to swing the link into one or the other of its latching positions.

Near its outer end the latch link 19 is provided with a semi-circular recess 22 formed in its rear edge and shaped automatically to engage the latch pin 18 when the last is in its intermediate collapsed condition as shown in Fig. l. The recess is spaced outwardly beyond the hooked shoulder of the latch link that engages the abutment 15 when the last is collapsed. The link thus acts at different times to restrain movement of the forepart in both direc tions. By engaging the abutment 15 the latch link causes the tension link 14 to swing with the forepart about the pin 17 and to resist further displacement of the forepart as a whole in a contra-clockwise direction from its extreme collapsed position beyond that of Fig. 3. By engaging the latching pin 18 the link resists displacement of the forepart in a contra-clockwise direction from its straightened position, and by engaging the pin 18 with its recess 22 it resists bodily displacement of the forepart from its intermediate collapsed position.

It will be apparent that when pressure in a clockwise direction is applied to the toe portion of the forepart it will merely rock about the anchor pin 16 as an axis against the pressure of the spring 20 and the recess 22 of the latch link 19 will not be disengaged from the pin 18. In other words, the latching engagement of the recess 22 tends to prevent bodily movement of the pin 16 but permits rocking of the forepart as indicated by the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1. When, however, downward and forward pressure is applied to the shank of the forepart, for example in the direction of the arrow 23 in Fig. 1, then the wall of the recess 22 cams the latch link out of engagement with the pin 18 and the forepart is automatically freed for movement into its straightened position as shown in Fig. 2. The recess 22 has no function in the straightened last and the outer end of the latch link 19 is located where it may be conveniently reached for unlocking the last.

It is essential that the recess 22 be shallow enough or otherwise shaped so that pressure on the forepart directed as suggested in Fig. 1 will cause it to cam the latch out of engagement with the pin 18. It will be noted, therefore, that the recess is illustrated as being less than a semicircle in contour or of such depth as to receive less than 180 of the diameter of the pin. The operator is thus free to hold down the heel part of the last with one hand and straighten the forepart with the other and is not obliged to manipulate the latch at the same time as he would have to do if the recess were too deep to permit the desired camming action.

One usual procedure in dealing with the last herein disclosed is to spindle it in fully collapsed condition as shown in Fig. 3 thus bringing the forepart into the most convenient position for pulling the upper onto the last. Rearward strain on the forepart is resisted by engagement of the latch link 19 with the latching abutment 15 by causing the tension link 14 to contact the bottom of the heel part. If the toe is depressed in manipulating the upper, the forepart merely rocks about the pin 16 and the depression 22 of the latch link 19 is brought into engagement with the latching pin 18 as shown in Fig. 1. The last is thereafter retained in this position of intermediate collapse until pressure or a blow is exerted on the shank of the forepart in the direction of the arrow 23. Under these circumstances the shallow recess 22 of the latch link 19 cams itself out of engagement with the latching pin 18, the last is straightened and finally latched in its straightened position by engagement of the hook of the latch link 19 with the latching pin 18 as shown in Fig. 2. When it is desired to remove the lasted shoe the latch 19 is disengaged by hand and the latch parts returned to the collapsed position shown in Fig. 1. They are retained in this position by the latch link in readiness to receive a new upper.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail a preferred embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A collapsible last having heel and foreparts with mating contact surfaces, an anchor pin in each part of the last and a tension link connecting said pins, a latch pin in the heel part, and a spring pressure latch link pivoted on the anchor pin in the forepart and having a latching abutment engaging said pin when the last parts are straightened and a shallow latching recess engaging said pin when the last parts are collapsed and shaped to disengage the latch by cam action.

2. A collapsible last having complementary heel and foreparts, a forepart anchor pin and a heel part anchor pin connected by a tension link, a latch member fixed in the heel part near the top of the last, and a latch link pivoted on the forepart anchor pin and having a latching configuration adjacent to its free end for engaging the fixed latch member to restrain the relative movement of the last parts respectively in their straightened relation and a second latching configuration comprising a shallow semi-circular recess shaped to engage the same latch member and to disengage it with cam action.

3. A collapsible last having connecting hinge mechanism including a pin in the forepart about which the forepart may be rocked while in collapsed position, and a latch normally restraining bodily movement of said pin with the forepart and having a shallow semi-circular recess permitting disengagement by cam action.

4. A collapsible last as described in claim 3 in which a spring is provided to oppose rocking movement of the forepart and to maintain the latch in its operative and engaged position.

5. A collapsible last having heel and foreparts with mating contact surfaces, and anchor pin in each part of the last and a tension link connecting said pins, a latch pin in the heel part, and a spring pressure latch link pivoted on the anchor pin in the forepart and having a latching abutment engaging said pin when the last parts are straightened and a latching recess engaging said pin when the last parts are collapsed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

